Canadians Among Most Stressed Out In The World
Posted December 20, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It seems there’s something if you believe the results of a new poll.
It shows Canadians are stressed out, and it’s not just because it’s Christmas.
The survey indicates three out of every four Canadians asked admitted they’re frequently stressed out, with their job and finances topping the list of causes.
Researchers took the mood temperatures of nine countries – Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United States – and asked 1,000 people in each one how often they felt like their lives had spiraled out of control.
The results: Canadians and Americans appear to have the most pressure on their backs.
Also contributing to the teeth clenching for those in big cities: the time crunch, exacerbated by a daily commute that keeps getting longer and longer.
“Then they get home later, don’t have time to spend with their children, and then get to bed later,” assesses stress and depression expert Dr. Mark Berger. “In short, they’re not getting enough sleep and are stressing out because of the rat race.”
Health concerns led by the SARS crisis and international tensions sparked by 911 have also made us all feel a lot less secure.
And then there’s all that technology that’s supposed to make all our lives easier. Instead of relieving stress, all those cell phones, BlackBerries and PDAs keep us plugged in longer than ever, making it harder to escape the daily tensions.
It’s hard to get away from it all when we keep taking it all with us.
“The notion that technology was going to relieve us and allow us to live more relaxed lives and more leisurely lives … I think the impact of technology has been exactly the opposite,” U. of T. stress expert Dr. Doug Saunders relates.
So what’s bugging you? Here’s what the poll found when it comes to Canadians.
In general, how often do you experience stress in your daily life–never, rarely, sometimes, or
frequently?
Frequently: 38%
Sometimes: 36%
Rarely: 20%
Never: 4%
How often do you get the feeling that your life is beyond your control — never, rarely, sometimes, or
frequently?
Frequently: 10%
Sometimes: 26%
Rarely: 36%
Never: 27%
If you had to choose, what would you say is the most important cause of stress in your life?
Job: 32%
Finances: 28%
Health: 19%
Family life: 13%
None/Other: 8%
To see the results from other countries, click here.(.pdf file)
